Email preferred for customer service

Email has been voted as the preferred method for customer service by 44 per cent of respondents to a recent Econsultancy survey.

According to econsultancy.com, email was also named as the “second most effective” way of getting good customer service.

The survey found that telephone was the worst possible customer service channel; with almost half of all those who responded expressing their frustration with it, hdlns.com revealed.

In fact, telephone was found to be “three times as frustrating” as email. The findings were published after the frustrations of 2,000 UK consumers were collated and analysed.

Given consumers’ rising confidence in email as a communication channel, the results may mean email marketing is more widely embraced in the future. They may also inspire brands to improve on their customer services within email in order to capitalise on this.

Customer services expert and Econsultancy representative, Warren Buckley, explained the benefits of doing this: “Customer service is an area where businesses, in a competitive marketplace, can really stand out and differentiate themselves.

“This research shows that…there is a growing number of savvy companies that, instead of viewing customer service as a cost centre, see it as a way for them to excel and increase brand loyalty.”